Bluebeard vs Men Without Women: Which Should You Read?
Both live on shelves: Fiction
Bluebeard
“Never trust a survivor… until you find out what he did to stay alive.”
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Broad humor and bitter irony collide in this fictional autobiography of Rabo Karabekian, who, at age seventy-one, wants to be left alone on his Long Island estate with the secret he has locked inside his potato barn.…
Men Without Women
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A collection of short stories, including three or four regarded as among his best. The subjects are varied, with In Another Country about a member of the Ambulance Corps in Italy during WW1, The Killers a taut crime…
Side by side
The verdict
- Readers rate Bluebeard highest: Bluebeard 4.2 · Men Without Women 3.6.
- Men Without Women is the quickest read — about 2 hours vs 5 for Bluebeard.
- Men Without Women has the widest readership — 16663 ratings behind its score.
How to choose
Scores by source
| Bluebeard | Men Without Women | |
|---|---|---|
| Goodreads | — | 3.6 (16663) |
| Hardcover | 3.9 (109) | 3.5 (25) |
| Google Books | 3.0 (1) | — |
| Apple Books | 4.5 (102) | 4.0 (11) |
Reception
| Bluebeard | Men Without Women | |
|---|---|---|
| Ratings | 109 | 16663 |
| Editions | 29 | 85 |
| Citations | — | 32 |
| Film adaptations | 1 | 1 |
| Want to read | — | 24846 |
| Reading it now | — | 1511 |
| Written reviews | — | 1453 |
| Wikipedia attention | 2797 | 3200 |
| Pages | 293 | 159 |
Questions readers ask
Which is rated higher: Bluebeard or Men Without Women?
Bluebeard has the higher combined reader rating across sources (Bluebeard 4.2/5, Men Without Women 3.6/5).
Which is shorter to read: Bluebeard or Men Without Women?
Men Without Women is the quickest read. Estimated at 225 words per minute: Men Without Women (159 pages, ≈ 2 h 57 m); Bluebeard (293 pages, ≈ 5 h 26 m).
Which is harder to read: Bluebeard or Men Without Women?
Estimated difficulty, based on era, reader shelves and length — Bluebeard: Moderate; Men Without Women: Challenging.